CO-AUTHORING SCIENTIFIC PAPERS IN MANAGEMENT: INTERNATIONAL ACADEMICS’ POINTS OF VIEW

Abstract

Responding to institutional pressure to publish more papers, and in respected journals, management academics are seeking to increase their productivity by establishing co-authoring ties that speed up the process, from the initial stages of defining the research question to publication in a journal. Understanding the motives, benefits and hazards of co-authorship, especially using the experiences of highly reputed scholars, may help improve the efficiency and quality of research efforts. In this paper, we examine the responses to six questions sent to thirteen prolific international researchers, by email. In essence, we sought to understand such aspects as: the origins of co-authoring ties, the importance of having co-authors, the pitfalls of and methods for coordinating co-authorships, and what constitutes a contribution that warrants co-authorship. Results show that (1) international researchers evaluate their co-authorships positively, (2) many co-authorships emerge from prior supervision or personal proximity, more so than ties to the same institution, (3) the ordering of names is defined a priori and managed actively, (4) the benefits sought after are mainly specialization and complementary competences, (5) co-authorship is given based on actual contribution, albeit there are many forms of contribution, and (6) the pressure to publish, and an increasing difficulty of publishing in the top journals are the drivers of co-authorship. The analyses point to important insights for young Brazilian scholars.